About the artist

Mikhail Tarasov, better known by his stage name Svoy, is a producer/writer/artist for Universal Music Group and a Billboard-charting multi-Independent Music Award winner in the genre of pop/electronica. He has three self-produced albums released via Mack Avenue Records/Sony Music Entertainment, P-Vine Records/Blues Interactions and Thistime Records, respectively.In 2009, his single "Beautiful Thing" reached #69 on the Billboard Japan Hot TOP 100 Airplay and #82 on Billboard Japan Hot 100 Singles chart. Besides remaining in top 40 and 100 airplay charts of numerous major Japanese radio networks for over 8 weeks, the song peaked at #3 on Alpha Station FM Kyoto 89.4's TOP 40 Overseas Chart. Also in 2009, Svoy's album Automatons reached #100 on the Billboard Japan Top Independent Albums and Singles chart.In 2011, Automatons and its title track were nominated for Best Dance/Electronica Album and Best Dance/Electronica Song at The 10th Independent Music Awards, and won in the latter category.

Clammbon is a Japanese musical trio, consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Ikuko Harada, bassist Mito and drummer Itou Daisuke. The group, originally formed in 1996 when the three were students at Tokyo Music and Media Arts Shobi, made their major label debut on Warner Music Japan three years later. Their music is characterized by their quirky sound combining jazzy chord progressions with J-Pop and electronica influences.The name Clammbon is taken from a fictional character in a short story by Kenji Miyazawa.

Oceanlane are a Japanese rock band from Tokyo. The band formed in 2001 by two longtime friends, Hajime Takei and Kay Naoe, who began playing shows with hired drums and bass players in the Tokyo area in 2002. They self-released a 2003 demo EP, and signed to Howling Bull Entertainment/Handicraft Recordings, who released their debut LP, On my way back home. This album reached #1 on Japan's independent music charts. A follow-up LP, Kiss&Kill, which was produced by Pelle Gunnerfeldt, followed in 2005. In the interim, the band toured nationally in Japan and supported many Western acts on the Japan legs of their tours, including Jimmy Eat World, All-American Rejects, The Stills, and Copeland. They also appeared on the winter leg of the Vans Warped Tour 2004. Since 2004, bassist Takeshi Horikoshi and drummer Masashi “Marcy” Shimada have recorded and toured with OCEANLANE and have become more or less permanent members of the band.

Monday Michiru Sipiagin is a Japanese American actress, singer, and songwriter whose music encompasses and fuses a wide variety of genres including jazz, dance, pop, and soul. She is arguably best known for being a pioneer of the acid jazz movement in Japan in the early 1990s yet she has created her own unique style of music that transcends traditional definitions of the aforementioned genres.Monday was born in Tokyo, Japan to jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and her then husband, jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano. At an early age, she expressed an interest in music; she studied modern dance and ballet from age eight, and the classical flute for eight years. It wasn't until she went to the Interlochen Arts Academy that she discovered her true passion of singing.In 1987, Monday appeared as a lead in the movie Hikaru Onna in which she was credited as Michiru Akiyoshi. Monday's unintentional acting career took off as she won Best New Actress awards from Kinema Junpo, The Japan Academy, and the Yokohama Film Festival. With all this success, Monday became somewhat of a celebrity and could be seen on commercial ads and as a “personality” on several major television networks.

Supercar was a Japanese rock band active from 1995 to 2005, and who made their debut in 1997. Consisting of composer and vocalist Kōji Nakamura, lyricist and guitarist Junji Ishiwatari, bassist Miki Furukawa, and drummer Kōdai Tazawa, Supercar is best known for combining alternative rock with electronic music. Internationally, Supercar is best known for providing much of the soundtrack for the Japanese film Ping Pong, as well as being featured in the anime series Eureka Seven.

Aco is a female Japanese singer. She made her debut in 1995 with the pop single "Fuan nano". She is a part of Sony Music Japan. She explores different musical styles, with the albums Absolute Ego and Material displaying Electronica influences. Absolute Ego was produced by ex-Denki Groove keyboardist, Yoshinori Sunahara and The Other Side of Absolute Ego album contains remixes by Tricky, DJ Krush, and Silent Poets.In 2003, after a two-year hiatus, she enlisted the help of the avant-garde audio-visual performance group portable[k]ommunity for her quieter, more delicate album, Irony. Irony has been called "one of the most beautiful albums to come out of Japan in 2003" with the music compared to an "airy lullaby".

Bonobos is a Japanese dub band from Osaka that was formed in August 2001. Its members include Chunho Sai, Yasuyuki Sasaki, Natsuko Morimoto, Bondo Tsuji and Izumi Matsui. The band released its first full-length album Hover Hover, followed by two more albums Electlyric and a, un. It has also released an extended play, Golden Days. Its latest effort is a greatest-hits compilation album Pastrama – The Best of Bonobos.

The Band Apart are a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo in 1998. Since their formation, they have released 7 albums, 11 EPs and 6 DVDs. Their album Adze of penguin reached number 9 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

AIR is a name under which Kōji Kurumatani releases his songs. He started AIR two months after SPIRAL LIFE broke up in April 1996. His music is often an inspiration for other artists, and his work is noted for lyrics that take on social issues and politics and can be classified as alternative rock.

Triceratops, also shorted to Tricera, is a Japanese rock band formed in 1996. Their work has been compared to Do As Infinity.Primarily influenced by British invasion bands such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Irish rockers U2, Radiohead and American acts such as Michael Jackson, the band's songs feature strong melodic lines, harmonies and are often backed by straight blues-influenced rock and roll. Their name comes from the number of members being equivalent to the number of horns on a triceratops.